Lonely cat in the shadow of the fox
by kittyamur
Summary: Rangiku and Shuhei are on a mission in the world of the living and Rangiku find's someone that she thought she's never see again ginran and slight RangikuxShuhei
1. Chapter 1

Rangiku was sat at her desk looking out of the window trying to do anything else apart from the large stack of paper work that was placed in front of her.  
She had noticed that her captain had been leaniant with her since Gins death.  
She had her hair cut and was allowed a new uniform, everyone else though she was dealing with his death well,too well some of the others thought.  
But none of them had seen all the empty sake bottles in her room.

Whilst still looking out of the window a hell butterfly lands on her hand,it reads all lieutenants are summoned to a meeting.  
She stands and starts to walk towards the lieutenants meeting hall, she take's her usual chair next to Renji and Nanao.  
She used to sit with Izuru and Shuhei but when she sees Izuru he just reminds her of Gin.  
The meeting starts and she's more bothered about Yachiru stealing all the cookies than what's being said,until Chojiro ask's her if she understands.  
"What?" she asks blankly "do you understand the mission?" he repeats "i wasn't listening" she smirks but looking apologetic "your being sent to the world of the living with lieutenant Hisagi"  
Her face partly lite up as she knew that she didnt have to finish the paperwork "what is the mission?" she asked "Hisage will tell you on the way, meeting over".  
Everyone left to go on there own missions, Shuhei walks up to her "are you sure your ready to go on a mission Rangiku?" Shuhei asked worryingly "what are you asking me?" she replied with annoyance in her voice, she knew very well what he meant.  
Though she felt it was the best thing for herself, he didnt reply to her.  
"so what is the mission?" she asked "there's just been some hollows that we have to get rid of" he replied.

They went on their way to the world of the living.  
Shuhei thought it would be the best way to show her his feelings to her, as he thought she was over Gin and would be interested in him.  
Though she was far from over him, she just didn't want anyone else to no.

They get to the world of the living and start searching for the hollows.  
"I can't find any spiritual pressure around her" Shuhei stated "me either, we should find somewhere to rest for the night" she replied as it started to rain.  
They start searching for abandoned houses, if they were in Karakura town they could easily stay with Orihime but as they were far away from there, they knew no one.  
They ended up finding an abandoned old house and decide to set up camp there.  
They start to look around the abandoned house "there's not much here is there" Rangiku say's " at least we'll be dry and safe for the night" Shuhei replies.  
Rangiku takes the master room and Shuhei take the smaller room next to it.  
She lay's out a futon and decides to climb inside, she finds it quite cold as she's not used to a room like the one she's in, the soul society is usually warm not cold and damp like the house their staying in.  
She looks up and see's mould growing on the ceiling and swears she feels drops falling on her head.  
She lies there awake wondering if Shuhei is asleep and if he wouldn't mind sharing his futon with her too keep warm.  
After a while of contemplating she decides to get up and see if he would, she quietly knocks on his door and whispers "Shuhei? are you awake?".  
He hears her and wonder's what she want's, as she was so sure she wanted to sleep in separate rooms he was certain she had no interest in him so why is she asking for him in the middle of the night?  
"what is it Rangiku? " he asks back, she opens his door and walks in " do you mind if... if i could sleep in your futong with you? its just im cold" she looks at him innocently hoping he wont take what she's asking the wrong way.  
His eyes widen and his heart beat beings to race "of course i don't mind" he moves over so she can get in with him.  
She nerviously walks over and shuffles into the futon with him, as soon as she's in there she can feel his body heat warming her, even if it is from him its sill better than how she was in the other room.  
He feels her body close to his and can tell she wasn't kidding when she said she was cold, her hands felt like ice as she placed them in front of her, he decides to pull her closer to him so she can get warmer.  
His actions make her slightly uncomfortable but she so cold she doesn't care, she snuggles her head into his neck "thank you Shuhei" she says with a small yawn after, she falls asleep quite quickly after that.  
Sleep seems to escape Shuhei, as this cold night has brought him more than he bargained for, as he doesn't need sleep since he feels he's already in a dream, being snuggled in bed with the one he loves.

there's the first chapter i hope you like it


	2. Chapter 2

Rangiku open's her eyes to see that Shuhei is already awake, she looks at him and says "i'm sorry for waking you in the middle of the night" he smiles and replies "really i didn't mind, you could wake me anytime".  
She tried not to think about what he could mean as she already knew she had given him false hope by sharing his futon with him.  
She smiles at him then decides to get out, she stands and looks down at him "i hope you understand that i was just cold, there where no other reason for me to sleep with you" her words hurt him deep but he didn't show it he just nodded.  
She walks into the bathroom and freshens up whilst he folds the futon away.  
She looks at herself in the mirror and thinks to herself maybe she should be with Shuhei, Gin is dead and isn't coming back, as she thinks it over, a tear falls down her cheek and she doesn't notice that Shuhei is standing behind her.  
"Rangiku? are you alright? is there something wrong?" he asks her sympathetically.  
She turns around and looks at him trying to hold the tears back "i'm fine Shuhei" she smiles and him then walks past him.  
He stands there helpless when suddenly the hollow alarm goes off, they both look at their phones, "there are two, both in the opposite sides of town" she states.  
Shuhei flashsteps off in one direction while she goes in the other.  
Shuhei arrives at where the hollow is and takes it out quite quickly.  
Rangiku arrives where her hollow is, though this one is almost arrancar and is much stronger than the one Shuhei was fighting.  
She takes out Haineko "growl Haineko" she demands and her ash surrounds the arrancar, her attack dosen't do much damage to the arrancar.  
As her mind isn't completely on the battle the arrancar is at an advantage and wacks her and sends her flying.  
As the arrancar had spikes on its hand one of them impaled her in the stomach, so she is bleeding whilst lying on the floor.  
The arrancar walks up to her "your finished! they sent a mar woman after me HA" he spat at her, he brings out his zanpackuto out to kill her.  
She closes her eyes and lifts her arms up to her face to shield herself, although she is about to die she isn't afraid nor upset in fact she's happy she's finally going to see Gin.  
She will be able to see his face, his smile she'll be able to smell his scent again and feel the warmth of his embrace.  
With her eyes closed she willingly take's in death.  
But as the sword is inches from her, she suddenly hears from the distance.  
"skewer him...shinso"

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	3. Chapter 3

Rangiku opens her eyes and looks around the room shes in, she knows she isn't farmilla with it and it's defiantly not the room she has been sharing with Shuhei, she can smell the scent of sweet tea.  
She tries to sit up but her wounds are hurting her too much for her to move so she lies still.  
"You better not move much Ran-chan you'll open up your stitches and i worked so hard to stick ya back up" a voice she knew very well and it didn't belong to Shuhei, then she remembers she heard the same voice before she passed out.  
"Gin?" she shouted and turned her head to where the voice had came from, and to her astonishment was in fact Gin sitting there with the same old grin he always wore.  
He waves at her "hey Ran-chan" he says though it seemed like he was holding something back in his voice.  
"I I must be dreaming your...dead, i saw you die with my own eyes* tears start to fall down her face " you can't be alive you just can't".  
He quickly kneels beside her "it is me and i no it's confusing for you right now, i'm sorry Ran-chan i never wanted to hurt you, you have to believe me when i say that" he tells her with his grin gone and sadness in his voice.  
She looks at him with sympathetic eyes "i believe you Gin" she tries to stay looking at him but her wounds are hurting her so much.  
He notices her pain and checks her wounds "you need to relax Ran-chan" he tell her with a stern voice, she nods and relaxes.  
While she's lying on her back she asks him "how is it that your still alive?". He pauses then replies "i don't no, i woke up here, i was bandaged up and they where medicine and supplies left on the table, i have no idea who it was".  
"Why didn't you come back to the soul society after you where healed?" she asks "because you thought i was dead, i thought it was best if i left you that way"he pauses "i thought you'd be better with out me" he says with sadness in his voice.  
"Better with out you?" she asks " are you that stupid Gin? i couldn't bear it, i missed you so much, i though you where dead!" tears start to fall down her cheeks  
"Ran-chan please don't cry, i never wanted to hurt you, i just thought it was best, i was gonna leave you alone, i could tell i had hurt you so much, but when i sensed you where in danger i couldn't risk you getting hurt or killed"  
She lies there thinking "i believe you Gin, i just wish none of this had ever happened, i missed you so much"."i'm here now Ran-chan and ill never leave you again, i promise" he reply's holding her hand, then he gently kisses it.

"now please Ran-chan get some rest, i'll still be here when you wake up" he says with his grin back on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Rangiku wakes hoping to see Gins face when she opens her eyes, but when she looks around he is not there in fact she is in her own room.

"Gin?" she calls out his name praying for him to reply but instead someone else hears her.

"Rangiku? are you awake?" a fermilla voice asks her, she looks in the direction the voice came from and she sees Shuhei looking at her.

"Shuhei? how did i get here?" she demands, he looks at her as if she should no how, "i found you, you were attacked by a hollow and i found you body outside, i brought you back here three days ago" he replys and looks at her worried.

He thinks to himself *has she lost her memory? and why was she calling out to HIM?*.

"Three days? iv been asleep for three days?" she asks him in an alarmed voice.

He looks at her not knowing what to say...

He makes sure she has everything she needs then goes off to do his work.

She sits in her bed wondering if it was all a dream but she knows that in her heart it was real, he felt real and she was defently awake, but why is she back here? and how did she get there? why was she laying out on the ground for Shuhei to find her?

After thinking about what happened she deciedes to get up and find evidence that it was not all a dream.

She places her feet on the ground and stands, after a few seconds she collapses to the ground and cries out in pain.

Shuhei heres her cry and shunpos to her room.


	5. Chapter 5

A few weeks past since Rangiku returned back to the soul society, each day she thought about what happened, Is Gin alive? Was it a dream? Had she wished him alive so much that she didn't know reality from a fantasy?

Rangiku was making her way towards her captains office, as she gets near to his office she sees Shuhei waiting outside.

"Good morning lieutenant Matsumoto, how are you feeling today?" Shuhei asked her as if nothing had happened, she looked at him for a few seconds before answering him, she was wondering what he was doing in her squad barracks more than anything but instead of her questioning him she just answered "i'm fine thanks, what about yourself?".

He didn't answer her just smirked and walked past, which was very strange behaviour for him but she couldn't understand what was wrong with him, and honestly she was affraid to ask him incase it was to do with her, she shook her head and casually walked into the office.

Behind the desk was her short captain with an unpleased look on his face, like aways trying to look over the stack of paperwork left on his desk that she was supposed to do "your late again Matsumoto" he stated with annoiance in his voice, he bearly greeted her with hello or anything polite, she just smiled and acted like her usually bubbly self even though all she was thinking of was getting back to the world of the living.

He stands "you have a meeting in 20 minutes" she nods and leaves the office dragging her feet towards the meeting,she walks past the other squads while she makes her way to the meeting hall next to squad 1, all the time she was thinking about Gin and how much she misses him after almost 20 minutes she gets to the meeting, as she walks in the room she sees Shuhei is already there, though he does not achnolege her he just stares at Izuru listening to him ramble on about how his new captain Rose irritates him.

She stands next to Momo "hey Rangiku" the happy little lieutenant says with a smile on her face as aways "hey Momo, have any idea what this meeting is about?" Rangiku asks her, but before she can answer Nanao starts the meeting.

"thank you everyone for turning up on such short notice" she states, before she says anything else Rangikus mind has already started to wonder, she looks down at Momo and thinks to herself _how can momo move on so well after everything that has happened to her_, _how is it a girl as young and vulnerable as Momo can manage when I can't._

"so is that okay with you Matsumoto?" Nanao asks her, as Rangiku has no idea what she was saying she looks puzzeled "huh? sorry i wasn't listening" she replied mockingly, a tick mark appears on the side of Nanaos forehead "i said are you okay going to the world of the living with Shuhei?" she asks with an irritated low tone.

That wasn't what Rangiku wanted to hear, her and him alone together in the world of the living again, she made a brave face and noded, she glanced over at Shuhei who rolled his eyes unpleased, she sees Izuru saying something to Shuhei but she can't make it out but what ever it was made Shuhei smile a mischeivous smile that made Rangiku uneasy, though she knew Shuhei wouldn't hurt her.

Then it hit her, she was going to be going to the world of the living, she could search for Gin while she is there...


	6. Chapter 6

They both walk threw the senkimo to the world of the living.  
once they arrive they start looking for somewhere to stay for there time there, Shuhei still hasn't said anything to her, he hasn't even looked at her.  
They go back to the abondon house they both stayed in last time, Rangiku sets her futon down while Shuhei watches her as he stands in the corner of the room.  
She looks at him "what?" she asks him with fustrastion in her voice, he just smirks at her with out answering, she stands and walks up to him.  
His attitude soon changes when he see's her coming towards him, "nothing" he replys, "since yesterday you have been acting like this, like iv done something wrong to you, what is it? what have i done?" she partly yells.  
"what makes you think it's you? iv been the same with everyone, i haven't treated you any different, maybe you feel guilty about something" he replys with ennoyence in his voice.  
She thinks to herself what do i need to feel guilty about? i thanked him for caring for me, i didn't lead him on...  
"you called for him!" he states, she looks at him blankley "what?2 she asks confused "you called for him, you called for Gin!".  
She looks at him shocked, she didn't realise he had heard her, but why is it bothering him so much? why was it such a big deal?  
He grabs her shoulders "he's dead Rangiku, he is not coming back, be betrayed you and now he's dead" he shouts at her, she smacks his hands away as tears run down from her eyes "shut up! just shut up!" she runs out of the house crying.  
He doesn't try and chase her, he sits discusted in himself for what he had done, he knew she was to fragile to hear it but he thought she needed to realise he was dead.  
She runs to a bench and sits down crying, she couldn't realise why Shuhei had done that, she thought he was her friend, but she realises the one person who was her true friend was gone and she'd never see him again.  
As she realises he is truly gone she questions if she can truly live on with out him? what was she going to do, she knew if she was gone she would be missed but it was too pain full.  
she starts to hear footsteps coming towards her, she was sure it was Shuhei, she keeps her face down still crying, she hears the footstep stop infront of her, she feels a hand under her chin picking her face up "please don't cry anymore...Ran-chan"


End file.
